Chapter 3
The meal ended relatively early.
The main reason was that Cheng Yanjin kept playing with his phone, ignoring the barrage of messages, and just kept turning it like a Tetris game, his whole body radiating impatience, which made Cheng Yangkang restless.
Lin Langyi also checked the time several times.
Whether it was her imagination or not, one of the times she secretly glanced at the time was caught by a man who was like a wall next to her. The phone was quiet for two seconds in his hand, and then it started knocking more frequently with annoyed "knock knock knock".
Lin Langyi didn't think much of it.
She wasn't surprised at all; it was how it should be. In her mind, Cheng Yanjin was annoyed by the arranged marriage and treated her like air. The future interactions between the two families would proceed as they were. His not giving her any attention was the greatest care he could offer.
What does it matter if we're close or not? If she weren't from the Lin family, even if Lin Langyi kissed him until his lips were raw, she still wouldn't be qualified to sit at this table today. It's precisely because we seem to be a "perfect match" that our childhood relationship has been romanticized as "fate."
The group politely dispersed, and Lin Langyi saw Cheng Yanjin answer a phone call and say "I'm here," before he took a long stride and disappeared from sight.
Feeling that her task was done, she casually sent a "Coming" message on WeChat.
Meng Hui wasn't going to Ying Shan Lake that night, and Lin Langyi had other business to attend to. After saying something to her mother, she went to the front desk to retrieve her bag, and then immediately disappeared into the restroom.
When she came out again, she had changed her clothes. She wore a bright olive green silk camisole and a matching skirt. Under the light, the fabric of the clothes had a delicate metallic sheen, and from certain angles, it was hard to tell whether it was more green or more yellow.
She straightened her collar and then began to apply her makeup meticulously in front of the sink mirror, with bottles and jars she had taken out of her bag scattered on the counter.
The private club was quiet and elegant with few guests. When Cheng Yanjin came out of the restroom, he immediately saw Lin Langyi dressed like she was from The Wizard of Oz.
It's really quite eye-catching.
The men's and women's washbasins are made of one piece of marble facing each other, separated by a wide, translucent stone mirror. Only when bending over to wash your hands is there a gap of less than 30 centimeters at the automatic sensor faucet, through which you can vaguely see the other side.
Through the mirror, he was on the far left, and Lin Langyi was on the far right.
He didn't know why, but even before seeing her face, his first thought was of her.
After washing his hands, Cheng Yanjin stood aside to dry them. After walking around the sink, he looked back again, almost as if possessed, through the tall green plants.
I saw her carefully applying colored contact lenses while slightly raising her chin.
In that instant, he could hardly describe the emotions that suddenly surged within him. It was as if someone had thrown ashes all over his face, and he couldn't dodge them. He coughed so hard that black smoke rose from his throat, lungs, and even stomach.
He suddenly stopped walking, even though he knew that staying would only make him more unhappy, he still stood by with a cold face.
Although he didn't understand the steps of girls' makeup, there was a classic line he had seen online.
You're not worth me spending money on a pair of daily disposable contact lenses.
He remembered how she had struggled to spell his name correctly, and then coldly watched her patiently apply clusters of false eyelashes. A strange mix of emotions churned within him, ultimately culminating in four words:
Dressed up in their finest attire.
No matter how you look at it, she still has another chance.
Lin Langyi untied her ponytail, which she had been tied up for a long time, and ran her fingers through it. She then took out a straightener from her bag and began to style her hair strand by strand in front of the mirror.
Cheng Yanjin quietly watched from behind the greenery for fifteen minutes until she had finished her makeup.
He scoffed at himself inwardly, thinking he was really crazy to stare at a woman's pre-date outfit for so long, but his feet were rooted to the spot, and he got angrier the more he looked.
He knew his behavior was unreasonable; logically, what did it have to do with him? But the chest tightness and irritability were real, and after much thought, he finally diagnosed himself with an overreaction to his emotions:
He was furious at her indifference, disdain, and blatant perfunctory treatment.
Cheng Yanjin had never been humiliated like this before. He had lived a life of glory and ease for over twenty years. Even if many people approached him with ulterior motives, those who outwardly complied but inwardly defied him would have to hide their true colors and be held accountable.
He remembered how convincingly and sincerely she had acted at the dinner table, convincing everyone there believed her, and then...
The huge gap was hard for him to accept, to the point that his chest was now churning with explosive emotions.
How interesting. Did she properly manage her love life before agreeing to the arranged marriage? She has a beautiful face, as delicate and pure as a peony in white, so does she use that face to effortlessly weave lies?
Cheng Yanjin's thoughts wandered further and further, until he couldn't understand why she would waste each other's time by having this meal when she already had someone she liked.
He didn't want to stay there any longer. The earthy smell of the green plants filled his nostrils, making his stomach churn. He didn't want to be a gloomy stone anymore, so he turned and left with a sullen face.
The messages on his phone quickly filled the entire screen if he didn't check them for a moment. Cheng Yanjin frowned and swiped through them casually before realizing that he had deliberately silenced his phone in order to spy from the shadows.
This realization made him increasingly agitated, thinking how utterly inexplicable he had been tonight.
He directed the hotel shuttle bus, and the driver waited quietly for the young master to announce the destination. Cheng Yanjin, with his head slightly lowered, sent a message in the group chat with one hand:
[Brother Yu said he has things to do tonight, so he'll let you guys play and pay later.]
He frowned as he finished speaking, then, without looking up, gave the address of a newly opened club.
The car slowly started moving, and Cheng Yangkang's phone rang impatiently. As soon as he answered, he asked bluntly, "Aren't you going home yet?"
“Brother Yu is here too.” Cheng Yanjin naturally knew how to answer correctly.
The other side seemed less imposing, as if the mere appearance of that name guaranteed its existence.
Cheng Yangkang concluded with just one sentence, "Learn to be a good person and come back soon," and then went straight to the point, asking him what he thought of Lin Langyi.
Cheng Yanjin raised an eyebrow slightly.
He never thought about getting married, regardless of who the other person was.
The biggest turning point in life is the amniotic fluid. Since he is able to be reincarnated, why should he let himself be tightly bound by another person?
Are you unhappy being alone?
He can eat wherever he wants, come home whenever he wants, and go out with his brothers whenever he wants. Why should he suffer by marrying a woman who has a rope tied around his neck, and who nags him if he comes home even a few minutes late?
He didn't like any of the Lin Langyi, whether it was the first or second Langyi.
Just as he was about to refuse as usual, his fingers suddenly brushed against the back of his phone case, and he suddenly remembered that it was Lin Langyi who handed him the photo of Qiao Wan when the event ended.
She wrapped the photo in a tissue, a gentle smile on her face, as if she were carefully and tenderly protecting a beating, vibrant heart.
Although Lin's family started late and her foundation was not as strong as Cheng's, her demeanor was very generous and poised, clearly a lotus flower carefully nurtured with love and money.
Cheng Yangkang's questions continued in her ears, and she could vaguely hear Feng Congning's sobbing.
Cheng Yanjin abruptly snapped out of his wandering thoughts, and the images of Lin Langyi dressing in front of the mirror and Feng Cong leaving the scene simultaneously flashed through his mind.
A wicked smile suddenly spread across his lips.
Raising Gu or fighting crickets is more interesting. If Lin Langyi, who is two-faced, were to live under the same roof as the scheming Feng Congning, life would be extremely interesting.
He loved watching either of them suffer.
On the other end of the phone, Feng Congning was still complaining, feeling wronged: "Xiao Jin is so disobedient! I thought the girl Wan'er arranged for him would make him settle down, but look at him today! He doesn't show any respect for anyone at all!"
Cheng Yanjin sneered and raised his voice into the phone, trying to make sure that Feng Congning, who was complaining aggrievedly on the other end, could hear him clearly:
"I like it, I like it very much."
"Dad, I haven't met a girl I like all these years. In the end, Mom understands me best. My heart was pounding the moment I saw her."
"Please explain this to me properly. I will marry no one but her in this lifetime."
*
When Lin Langyi returned to Yingshan Lake, the live stream had already been running for more than three hours.
She pushed open the glass door, and Du Jingchong from the operations department gestured to her, meaning she should go on stage after this segment was finished.
Lin Langyi was fully armed. She walked quietly to Du Jing's side and asked about the situation.
Du Jing: "President Lin and the others should have finished eating by now. They are showing people the finished products and food culture dishes. There aren't many people here."
"In the afternoon, they said the agreed time was postponed by two hours. I thought it was a meeting that wasn't very important, but then they immediately notified each department to leave two people on standby that night, so it seems like the people who came were quite important."
Lin Langyi had been out all day, and her only focus was on dinner that evening, so she was completely confused.
She reassured them, "It's alright. When I drove in, I saw that the shops downstairs had already started to leave and the lights were off. We'll just do our part here and then end the broadcast. You should all go home early."
“It might not be over so soon,” Du Jing’s eyes lit up. “Do you know who’s coming?”
Lin Langyi didn't seem to care: "Who?"
"Yingyuan Group, formerly Chu Yu."
Lin Langyi paused in her movements, and this time the look in her eyes was one of utter surprise.
Yingyuan Group is a powerful alliance between the Chu and Yuan families. They are a genuine aristocratic family with involvement in multiple industries. They have been wealthy for generations and will likely remain so for the next.
If she remembered correctly, the jewelry industry was also one of the businesses under the Yingyuan Group. The Cheng family's jewelry business was just a little bit of gold that had slipped through their fingers.
He was indeed a big spender and a major client, but unfortunately, Lin Langyi knew nothing about Yuan Chuyu who had come to visit.
“It’s okay, we’ll close up shop as usual,” she shook her head and said reassuredly, “Our store’s live streaming room is newly set up, it’s a small business, Yuan Chuyu definitely won’t come here to watch.”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
